Arun Elassery got his degree from IIT Kharagpur in 1988 and has worked in engineering, e-learning and education. He is the author of 'The laughing onion' a picture book for children published by Eklavya and of two books on the philosophy and practice of self-learning. He has written a regular column on alternative schools for the Teacher Plus magazine and was a 'Wipro Education Fellow' from 2010 to 2016.